The present invention relates to a medical device and more particularly to a grasper device that is useful for holding and manipulating a body organ during a laparoscopic surgical procedure.
Given the current trend to reducing patient trauma as much as possible by performing operative procedures that are less invasive and less traumatic to the patient and the subject body organ, laparoscopic surgical procedures are being performed with increasing frequency. Laparoscopic surgery is a form of abdominal surgery using a laparoscope and other surgical instruments introduced into the abdomen through separate cannula ports. A laparoscope is an instrument for visualizing the interior of the abdomen and the various body organs contained therein. In laparoscopic surgery, the laparoscope is introduced into the abdomen through a cannula port fitted to a trocar, which is a sharp-pointed instrument that is punctured through the abdominal wall to insert the cannula. The grasper device of the present invention is introduced into the abdomen through a separate cannula port where it is used to hold and manipulate a body organ during the surgery. Additional cannula ports are used for other surgical instruments needed for the surgical procedure.
The grasper device of the present invention is particularly useful in laparoscopic procedures involving the spleen, the large intestine, kidney and uterus. In a colon resection, the grasper device is particularly useful for holding and manipulating the severed colon. In a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the grasper device is particularly useful in cases of chronic infection where the gall blader is enlarged and difficult to handle with forcep-type instruments.
The grasper device according to the present invention comprises a flexible strap means that is housed inside a tube which is moved through the cannula port so that a distal portion of the tube is inside the abdomen and a proximal, handle portion is outside. The strap is doubled back upon itself to form a loop adjacent the distal port ion of the tube. Manipulative means operatively associated with the strap means defining the loop is manipulated adjacent the proximal portion of the tube to open the loop to a size large enough to fit around the target body organ and then to tighten the loop to hold the organ. A locking means is provided on the tube to selectively maintain various sizes of the loop. The strap portion forming the loop is provided with gripping formations such as holes or openings of various shapes, ridges, studs, serrations and the like on the inner surface thereof or the strap can be provided with scalloped edges. Openings are preferred because they allow moisture trapped under the strap to escape while organ tissue pushes into the openings which function to atraumatically grip the tissue as the strap is tightened. There is also provided sealing means in the tube that seals around the strap means or the manipulation means to prevent gas and fluids present inside the body cavity from moving through the tube to the proximal end thereof.
An important feature of the loop is that it is flexible in first plane, yet semi-rigid in a second plane normal to the first plane. This rigidity allows the surgeon to easily maneuver the loop around the target organ while a strap guide mounted on the tube restrains rotational movement of the strap.
One embodiment of the present grasper device is referred to as a single-throw type grasper device because only one end of the strap means is movable through the tube to adjust the size of the loop. The other end of the strap means is secured in a fixed position to the conduit means.
Another embodiment of the present grasper device is referred to as a double-throw type device wherein both ends of the strap means are overlapped and attached to a drive means or rod at a position inside the tube with the drive means extending through the conduit means to the remote location and serving as the manipulation means for adjusting the loop size. With the double-throw grasper device, only half as much movement of the drive means results in a similar amount of adjustment in the size of the loop as compared to manipulation of the strap means in the single-throw device. The overlapped ends of the strap can extend through conduit means and serve as the manipulative means.